Exposure to food, drinks packaging chemical associated with heart disease

January 01, 0001

Exposure to food, drinks packaging chemical associated with heart disease

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical widely used in food and drinks packaging. Associations have previously been reported between urinary BPA concentrations and heart disease, diabetes and liver enzymes in adult participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003/04. The researchers from the UK aimed to estimate associations between urinary BPA concentrations and health measures in NHANES 2005/06 and in data pooled across collection years. Subjects were n = 1455 (2003/04) and n = 1493 (2005/06) adults aged 18-74 years from the USA.

Higher urinary BPA concentrations were significantly associated with coronary heart disease in 2005/06 and in pooled data. Associations with diabetes did not reach significance in 2005/06, but pooled estimates remained significant. There was no overall association with gamma glutamyl transferase concentrations, but pooled associations with alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase remained significant.

The researchers concluded: "Higher BPA exposure, reflected in higher urinary concentrations of BPA, is consistently associated with reported heart disease in the general adult population of the USA. Studies to clarify the mechanisms of these associations are urgently needed."

This chemical is used in plastic food packaging, including baby bottles. At the moment this is only association, but worth following.

For the full abstract, click here.

PLoS ONE 5(1): e8673, published online 13 January 2010 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008673) © 2010 Melzer et al
Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06. David Melzer, Neil E. Rice, Ceri Lewis, William E. Henley, and Tamara S. Galloway.

Category: K. Circulatory Keywords: association, urinary, bisphenol A, concentration, heart disease, retrospective review of patient medical records, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 11 February 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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